Category Archives: Desserts

Game Night Treats

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I’m so excited for the return of game night with my church small group. We have a great time together with food, laughter, games and just enjoying each others company. I went to some easy comfort food treats tonight. Nothing fancy or new, just good hang out snacks. Since I’ve posted them both before, I’m just including the links with photos in this post. I know, how lazy am I today? I will say however that you’ll never have better rice crispy treats than mine. Oooh good! Continue reading →

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Lemon Cheesecake

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I distinctly remember my mom making this cheesecake when I was a kid. Iit was gorgeous, and I remember thinking that lemon desserts were better than chocolate. I still prefer lemony deliciousness over just about anything else. This recipe is from the May 1989 issue of Bon Appétit magazine (which you can purchase online for “only” $14.95). Thankfully, my mom keeps everything – especially stuff that has amazing recipes within. I went to visit her a while back, found the magazine in one of her many shelves of cookbooks and copied down the recipe. Now that I’ve made it myself, I have no idea how my mom did it. She had 5 kids! Where did she find the time or energy for this? Making this recipe completely destroyed my kitchen. However, recreating something with such a strong childhood link was totally worth it to me. Continue reading →

New “Phil”? Chocolate Truffle Cookies

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Hello death-by-chocolate. This may replace “Phil” in my recipe box as my go-to chocoholic cookie. I may even make this my new “Phil” as it’s essentially the same idea. Chocolate cookies with chocolate chips in them. But these are made with butter, chocolate and more chocolate. The previous “Phils”, while delicious, were packed with shortening. I think butter is just better. Really, these are more like a brownie than a cookie. So rich and delicious. The edges get nice and crinkly while the center stays a little bit fudgey and gooey. These cookies turn out just about a perfect two-bite size, which is good. They are so incredibly decadent – two bites may be all you can handle. Continue reading →

Quick Cobbler

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First of all. I’m back! I was pounded with the cold/flu season and was basically non-functioning for about 6 weeks. Last week I emerged from my bed to find that the world had changed in my absence. None of my kid’s clothes fit, I couldn’t get shoes on their feet because they too had grown – and I don’t even want to talk about the mountains of laundry. After digging out all last week, I finally feel myself again and am ready to bake! Woo-hoo! Sorry for the total void these past few weeks. It was no fun to be sick that long…and I’m pretty much the worst most pathetic sick person on the planet. It’s true, you can ask my husband.

I had my parents over for dinner last night and threw together this quick and easy cobbler for dessert. If you like biscuit toppings for your cobblers, this isn’t the one for you. It’s more of a cakey cobbler. The prep time is literally about 5 minutes. The batter bakes up around the fruit and the sweet smell will fill your house. You can use any combination of fruit. I used raspberries and peaches. Yuuuumy! Continue reading →

Old-Fashioned Gingerbread

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Gingerbread is classic Christmas fare. Most people think of cookies shaped like little men when they hear the word gingerbread – but ever since I discovered the old-fashioned kind, I’ve given up the little men with gumdrop buttons. This stuff is just so much better! This recipe is really versatile – you can make this in a loaf pan, 9 inch square, cupcake tins or (like I did) a bundt pan…which turns it into an absolutely gorgeous cake. I just like making bundts – because it reminds me of my favorite scene from My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

Ha! Cracks me up every time. Continue reading →

Almond Roca

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This is probably my most favorite Christmas baking item. It’s also the most difficult to get done. Not because the recipe itself is particularly hard, but because candy making is a little bit of a science.

In the area that I live, the weather is my biggest obstacle when trying to make almond roca. When making any candy, you have to bring your ingredients to a certain temperature in order for it to set properly. On rainy (or humid) days, the cooking time for candy can increase substantially. Candy making requires the perfect ratio of sugar to moisture and since you’re boiling the mixture longer to get the temperature up, you may lose all your moisture in the process. And you get a completely opposite problem once the candy is done and cooling. Because sugar attracts moisture, your cooling candy will absorb all that humidity in the air, making the finished product softer than you want it. Continue reading →

OREO Truffles

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Easiest recipe ever. Seriously. You will be amazed at how simple these are. And how many compliments (and marriage proposals) you’ll get from people eating these. They are amazing.

If you have a food processor, these literally take about 3 minutes to throw together. Crushing the cookies by hand will up the prep time a little – just throw them in a Ziploc bag and pound away with a mallet or small soup pot. Prep will still be under 10 minutes. If you have time, I prefer to pop the batter for these in the fridge (after step 2) for about a half hour – before dipping them. Just makes the dipping process a little easier. Enjoy! Continue reading →

Crispy Peanut Butter Balls

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I know I’ve posted this recipe before, but it’s just so stinkin good. And easy. And gluten free! I’m always looking for things I can feed to my Celiac sister and her kiddos. Three ingredients? Can’t beat that!

I melt a tablespoon of peanut butter in a baggie for about 10 seconds and snip the end to decorate. Also – don’t use generic, fat-free or low-fat peanut butter for this recipe. Since the peanut butter is pretty much the biggest ingredient – you want it to be high quality stuff. Continue reading →

Mini Cheesecakes

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Cheesecake is one of those desserts that I generally feel pretty guilty eating. It’s so amazing and delicious, but also really bad for you. It stinks, but it’s true. However, I have found the solution to my desire for cheesecake and my equally strong need to NOT pack on 50 pounds from eating it. Mini cheesecakes. Tiny, bite sized. Perfect.

Feel free to play with this recipe, it’s easy to do. Add some melted white chocolate to your batter and top with raspberries. Or blueberries, or strawberries. Crush up Oreo cookies for your crust for a cookies n’ creme cheesecake. The possibilities are endless. And fabulous! Continue reading →

Oh Fudge

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I love fudge. I absolutely love it. This recipe is straight off the back of the marshmallow fluff can. I’ve been making it for years. I do one small thing differently. In addition to the normal semi-sweet chocolate in the recipe, I add about 2 ounces of milk chocolate chips. Perfect chocolatey goodness. I am anti-nut in my baked goods, but if you like chunky nutty fudge, just add 1 cup of your favorite nut, chopped.

Now to share a few lessons learned through the years making fudge. Yes, I have done all these things. Baking sometimes requires trial and error. Learn from mine instead of doing any of these things yourself. Continue reading →